Do Good Work. Work and Live Intentionally.

03/11/2013

The Too Much To Do Syndrome

I thought I was doing myself a favor two weeks ago when I wrote every single thing I could think of that needed to be done on a sheet. I felt great after I wrote it all down. I thought I would soon be crossing things off and getting things done.

Wrong.

I was paralyzed by fear.

I had "Too Much To Do" Syndrome. It is a serious condition that can strike at any moment. There you are, thinking that you have this productivity, life/work balance thing down. You are rockin' it. Then it strikes - you keep looking at your list and you are completely overwhelmed by the too much to do's.

It is a terrible feeling that causes symptoms such as: yelling at your husband for no particular reason, apologizing to said husband for freaking out, staring longingly at your list while you decide one possible thing that you might get done, fiendishly checking email or social media so you don't actually have to do something on your list, avoiding your office, eating salty foods (this may just be me, but I bet not), terrible dreams that include cubicles and Oprah, a general feeling of unease, and just not being on top of your game.

Remedy: make a smaller list of things that you can ACTUALLY get done that day and do them. Sure, they can be things that were on your monster list that you made, but they don't have to be. Stuff comes up and you can just get what actually has to be done. Because, unless you missed some major deadline or you realized that you were supposed to be somewhere that you aren't, your to do items can move around.

Don't get bogged down in Too Much To Do syndrome. Make a list the night before of things that you can actually accomplish the next day. Put a star or write on a post it note three things you MUST get done and start feeling great about your days.

Phew, that was a close one, I survived, but I'll have to watch out for when that urge to write it all down strikes again and counteract with the Easy Three-sie Get It Done Plan!